TV Game Preview: Szolnoki v Oldenburg

EWE Baskets Oldenburg (3-0), in many aspects the best team in the EuroChallenge at this early stage, have the chance to clinch a place in the Last 16 of the competition on Tuesday, with two weeks to spare in the Regular Season.

The Germans are travelling to Hungary to take on Szolnoki Olaj (2-1) and a victory would secure them a top-two finish in Group F regardless of results in the remaining games.

A Szolnoki win on the other hand would derail -even just temporarily- Oldenburg's bid and most importantly would throw the race for the top spot in the group wide open with both teams tied at 3-1.

In order to achieve such an outcome, the hosts have to find a way to counterbalance Oldenburg's deep rotation and get quality minutes from their bench players.

In the reverse fixture on the opening day the German side cruised to an 87-70 victory, thanks in no small part to their performance not varying considerably no matter which five players they had on the court at any given time.

Whereas four Szolnoki players combined for 54 of their team's 70 points, Oldenburg saw ten of their personnel spending a minimum of nine minutes on the court and writing their name on the score sheet.

The Hungarian side can however take heart from the fact they were the only team not to lose the battle on the glass to Oldenburg.

The group leaders out-rebounded both Körmend and BC Timisoara with ease but the Szolnoki big men held their ground against Oldenburg's frontline, collecting just two rebounds less.

CURRENT FORM

The hosts are coming off a painful defeat at home, 82-78 to Igokea Aleksandrovac in the Adriatic league on Saturday.

The good news for Szolnoki is that big man Marton Bader continues to be in form and picked up a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds in just 24 minutes of action.

Bader was Regular Season Week 2 MVP with a monstrous performance against Körmend and he collected another double-double last week, in Szolnoki's 93-80 victory at BC Timisoara.

Oldenburg on the other hand are experiencing the joys of free-scoring basketball at the moment.

After scoring 95 points against Körmend last Wednesday, they dropped 113 on Phoenix Hagen in the German BEKO Bundesliga on Saturday (113-62).

What's more, coach Sebastian Machowski had once again the chance to see all the players on his squad share minutes and contribute points.

SEASON SO FAR

Dru Joyce and EWE Baskets are red-hot these days, playing a good role in the BBL and remaining undefeated in the EuroChallenge

Szolnoki's offensive output of 86.3 points per game is the fifth-highest in the EuroChallenge.